Grounded
by ButterscotchFox
Summary: Everyone at camp knew Bobby Zilch was in charge - big, strong, cruel, and always with his ratty sidekick bringing up the rear. Nobody gave the new girl the message, though, and when Bobby goes to show her who's boss, things get... weird. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey Barge! Bobby here's got business with you, new k - OW!"

Bobby rolled his eyes at Benny for practically announcing that they were going to rough up the girl, his shrieking falling off with a punch to the liver. He figured this would be routine by now; they go to the kid, Bobby threatens them, Benny hangs back in the background and tries his best to look mean instead of sick to his dumb stomach. Then they decided how to split the lunch money with a nice game of "Bobby gets what he wants and Benny deals with it." It wasn't like he expected a coordinated act, just wait for the damn signal.

Benny's yelling had caught Chloe's attention. The little fishbowl-headed weirdo blinked at them from her position on top of the ladder, laid against the side of the cabin, and said something that he didn't quite catch. Whatever it was, he didn't see any worry in her eyes - no sign she knew that it was Bobby Zilch was coming for her. Maybe she hadn't been told yet.

That was good. It was more fun if they didn't see it coming.

He rolled his shoulders and gave a smirk as he sauntered up to the ladder, fists swaying lazily in a half-ready position. Benny was now smartly keeping his trap shut, seeing Bobby assuming his usual stance.

"Over here, new kid!" he said, angling his neck to look at the tiny girl up on the ladder. She glanced back down at him. "You get the camp orientation outta the way yet? Because I've got my own welcome - "

"Hold on, please." Chloe replied, holding up a single slim finger. "I'm in the middle of something."

She turned back away, lifting some ropes up onto the roof, then crawled up after them with steps so light they didn't even squeak the moldy old panels.

Bobby blinked at her reply, hearing Benny give some kind of noise between a purse dog barking and the start of a sick loogie. His surprise quickly turned to indignation. Looked like he had a brave little snot this time. Even if she didn't know who he was, did he look like he was here to pal around?

"'I'm in the middle of something'." Bobby mimicked under his breath. "You're about to have my foot in the middle of your face, chrome dome."

The only question now was what to do next. She was up on the roof, and he wasn't sure he felt like chasing her up there.

Eying the now-vacant ladder with a widening smile that spread like mold across his face, he caught Benny's eye. The smaller boy gave a grin in response, covering his mouth with his hands to partially stifle the excited giggles that came sputtering out.

"Hope you don't need this!" Bobby called up to her, taking a step back before raising a leg and slamming his foot hard into the side of the ladder. It immediately pitched over, scraping across the wooden roof of the cabin and collapsing in the grass with a dull thud. The little pipsqueak was stranded fifteen feet in the air.

Bobby was already laughing before the ladder hit the ground, the harsh braying mixing with Benny's gleeful accompaniment. He was offered a high five and ignored it, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Whoops! Tough luck, Barge!" he yelled. "Boy, I hope you can get down before dinner!"

There wasn't an answer.

The smile on Bobby's face was slowly waning. He squinted up at the rooftop, taking a few steps back. Chloe was still up there, her back to him, doing _something_ that wasn't answer him. It didn't look like she even knew - or cared - that the ladder was gone.

"Hey, Barf girl!"

There wasn't an answer.

He scratched his head, brow furrowed.

"What's with this girl, huh Bobby? Must be a total space case if she didn't see - "

"Shut up, Benny!"

Benny's mouth clamped back shut. Bobby put his hands on his hips, narrowing his eyes and trying to make out what the girl was doing. What was the deal here? Was she stupid? Deaf? Maybe Phoebe or someone else had already told her not to be afraid of him, and he'd have to correct that misunderstanding later. Maybe she was some kinda special dumbass like Dogen and didn't have enough brain cells to realize he was gonna shake her down when she got her tiny ass down here. Or maybe it was just a distraction and that big Russian kid was sneaking over here to throw him in the mud.

"Benny, go check the other cabins." he growled. His tone of voice didn't leave any room for argument, and Benny scampered away through the campgrounds without a second thought. It was just Bobby and the runt now.

This chick… she'd just gotten to camp. Not long enough for her to have made any real alliances with the hero-types around the grounds. Hell, he hadn't even _seen_ Lili in days - not that he minded. But maybe they were using her as bait. He could definitely see Kitty or Franke snatching up a new kid to use against him. Probably thought he was simple, couldn't resist an easy target.

Bobby grit his teeth at the thought. Those cocky paint-faces.

Oh yeah, there were definitely gonna be some balls busted over this attempt at humiliating him. Maybe next he'd get punked by Elton, another "accidental" encounter with one of those dumb fish. What a load of total bull -

"Okay, what did you need?"

Bobby glanced back up from where he'd been watching Benny haul ass. Chloe was on all fours on the edge of the cabin, looking down at him with bright and confident eyes that shone like lasers. The redheaded bully felt his jaw slacken under her gaze, then came back to himself, snorting and balling his fists again.

"Finally get your hearing checked?" he called up to her. "Throw that dumbass helmet away and get down here, pipsqueak!"

"I can't, the ladder's gone."

The reply was prompt. It was even. Chloe never broke eye contact with Bobby as his lips curled back, trying to think of a retort. Unable to come up with anything, his eyes darted back to the fallen ladder.

"Yeah, my mistake, right? I'll go grab that for you, don't worry."

He marched over to the rickety thing, hauling it out of the grass and dragging it back to the cabin. Chloe quickly moved back as he slammed it back into place, clicking his tongue at the sight of her fingers narrowly escaping being smashed under the top rungs. She was a quick little snot. He tensed up as she started to descend towards him, fingers itching in anticipation for her to run away. Probably when she reached the third step from the bottom. But he was ready for her.

He was still waiting, muscles wound tight like a spring, when her shoes touched down on the grass and she looked up at him. He searched her face, looked her up and down with his face twisted into a sneer. She wasn't running. She didn't even look worried.

That was fine, just made it easier when they were dumb. Bobby loomed over her, mouth opening to demand her money…

"Thanks for waiting." Barge said cleanly, in the same buoyant voice she'd used earlier. Face to face with Bobby Zilch, within easy grabbing distance, she was standing straight with her arms at her sides and her eyes on him. "And I heard you, I was just busy. I'm free now, though."

Any demands he'd been thinking up were caught in his throat as firmly as if she'd closed her fingers around his neck. A gross choking sound came out of him, and he took a step back, looking the fishbowl-headed newbie up and down.

...what was she doing?

She was nothing. Tiny, weak, even smaller than Elton. He'd thrash her to the ground with one good punch to that dumb helmet. Everybody around here knew that Bobby Zilch was no joke, and if you treated him like one then you'd end up breathing out of your ass. Some of the runts and fruits around here had started teaming up, trying to get strength in numbers, but even then they'd be on guard when he came through.

But Chloe wasn't on guard. Her knees weren't knocking under the edge of those shorts, her eyebrows were perched high on her head instead of knit together to match a worried frown. He knew what fear looked like. It wasn't this.

As he watched her, she was even starting to gently rock back and forth on the balls of her feet, paying no mind to how he dwarfed her. She wasn't afraid of his size or the look in his eye that demanded her fear, that _expected_ it.

There was something strange about it. Something he couldn't put his finger on, brain frozen in confusion as it was. It felt like she was miles away, out of his reach.

Out of reach of his fists.

Out of reach of his anger, of his power.

She was defenseless, but Bobby felt like he couldn't touch her.

"Umm…?"

Her voice snapped him back to reality. He blinked with a start, taking a step back. The dull chaos in his brain faded away, his senses slowly coming back to him. How long had Bobby been standing there, staring at this girl?

It was… _humiliating_ to think he'd been so easily thrown off. A feeling he recognized wormed its way back into him, reminding him of who he was. Anger.

He'd get this shaking down back on track. He'd thump that stupid helmet so hard her ears would ring for days unless she coughed up the money.

"Don't rush me, you little turd." he snapped, reclaiming the step he'd yielded to her and tightening his fists. "I ain't getting pushed around by a little girl with a fishbowl on her head. Why you wearing it anyway, chrome dome? Afraid of germs?"

"Oh, this?" Chloe asked, putting a hand to the side of her helmet. She hummed softly, fingers tapping against the hard plastic. "Mmm… I guess it's a reminder? It's supposed to resemble a NASA IVA helmet, but it's not completely accurate. It's also a courtesy though."

Bobby raised an eyebrow. What the hell was an IVA? Did she not get that he was making fun of her?

Jeez, this broad really _might_ be as dumb as Dogen.

"I want them to be able to spot me easily." Chloe continued. "They can already communicate with me but I don't think they know what I look like, so if they know what a spacesuit looks like then this will make it easier to tell who I am."

"...what?"

"Boss!"

Bobby turned towards Benny's voice as the smaller boy raced over to him from the cabins. He didn't look worried, so that probably meant there weren't any voyeuristic simpletons needing a pounding nearby. His partner caught up to him, panting lightly with eyes on Chloe.

"Oh, you finally got her down! Nice one, Bobby!" he grinned. "Did you get it yet?"

"Get what?" Chloe asked.

Seeing Benny about to open his stupid mouth again, Bobby's arm shot out and clamped it shut. With a low growl, he began dragging his panicking accomplice - who was trying to mumble out 'What'd I do!?' and 'Sorry boss! I won't again!' under his palm - away from the scene.

He threw a last glance over his shoulder at Chloe, who now had her head tilted to the side, a puzzled look on her face. Something about it made his stomach drop.

Retch.

"I'll be back, Barge!" he snapped at her. "Next time ain't gonna go like this!"

"Alright… bye then!"

He ignored her wave, the quizzical shine in her eye. He ignored Benny stammering excuses in-between encouragements and accompanying threats towards Chloe.

But she wasn't for Benny, oh no. The boss was gonna take care of this. There'd be another day to figure out what the hell was up with this pint-sized chew toy, and as soon as he figured out what she was up to, whatever she was doing on that rooftop, he'd smash it into pieces and show her who was really in charge of camp.


	2. Chapter 2

The day came sooner than expected - didn't take too long for the little rugrat to climb back up to the rooftop. When Bobby spotted her fiddling with the ladder, he immediately sent Benny away - no, he couldn't ask why. No, he couldn't watch! And no, he could not guess! Usually Benny knew better than to ask so many questions, and normally Bobby would've thrashed him for getting in his face like this, but he decided to be nice for today. After all, he wanted to save his strength for Barge.

So a swift blow to the back of the head and orders to guard the GPC entrance "until I say so or you die" had to suffice. Curiosity aside, the younger boy didn't want to risk any more of Bobby's famous five-digit phone numbers, and he darted away without too much more fuss.

That just left the new kid.

Bobby eased his stride as he approached the cabin, trying to keep a level head and a steady pace despite the anticipation mounting with every step. His hands were practically shaking. There she was, carrying some kind of radio-looking thing to the top. Slow going, considering her size - she had to dangle the thing behind her and climb with one hand.

...seeing her was weird, though. Bobby Zilch was no slouch when it came to scoping things out, but while his eyes would normally be scanning left and right to see any attacks coming, he found himself focusing on Chloe instead. The way she was lugging that radio up the ladder, her uneven steps…

It was weird. He shook off the feeling… whatever it was. Not gonna help him here. Yesterday was a fluke and there wasn't anything else to it. She caught him off guard and now she'd cough up the payment unless she wanted a few black eyes under that stupid plastic headgear.

He waited until she was at the top. She didn't see him coming.

Not bothering with the pleasantries this time, he thudded over to the ladder and planted his palm on the side, shoving it over just like before. It fell into the grass, and this time Bobby heard a faint 'eep!' come from above him. A smile twisted onto his face. That was more like it.

He folded his arms and cocked a smirk as Chloe bent over the edge of the cabin, looking down at him.

"Whoops." he said flatly, trying to hide the pleasure in his voice. No good, still a little quiver - gotta steady that out.

"Whoops, huh." the smaller girl repeated, her eyes moving between him and the fallen ladder. Her lips pursed. "It's weird, this only happens when you're here."

Bobby unfolded his arms, pounding one fist into his opposite palm. "Guess the ladder just knows what's good for it." He suggested. "No stupid ladder gets in my way."

"Sure."

Chloe stood back up, turning her back to him and stepping away from the edge. "I guess it's not really a problem, as long as it gets put back when I need to get down."

Bobby snickered. Why would he ever put the ladder back? Now the fishbowl-headed runt had nowhere to go. He couldn't punch her since she was so high up, but that was okay. Plenty of mud around for him to lob at her dumb head. Maybe she'd even cry.

He felt something twist up inside him, and he frowned. What the hell was that?

Didn't he come over here in the first damn place to set the record straight? Show her who the boss was? Shouldn't he be _thrilled_ to throw mud at her?

Wait, why the hell did he even knock the ladder down? She didn't even notice the first time! She did this time, but it wasn't like she was all that bothered! And he wanted to punch her! How was he going to get her to recognize he was the boss if she just kept turning up her nose at him from the top of a building?

He felt his face beginning to heat up. His knuckles turned white as he gripped them against his palms. What was wrong with him right now? Bobby had done this whole thing loads of times before, why was this time so sloppy? What was up with this girl? Why did he keep getting these weird feelings from her?

Was it possible that she just wasn't scared of him? Was that it? Or maybe she was even _cocky_ , thinking he was no threat.

Fuck that, he was going to grab that ladder, slam it back into place and there'd be hell to pay when he got to the top -

His whirling thoughts were interrupted by a nasty zapping sound.

"Ahhh!"

Bobby's eyes snapped back to the top of the cabin as Chloe cried out. The old roof boards creaked as she backpedaled from the center of the roof, away from something he couldn't see. Her arms were waving in front of her, head shaking. He thought he saw a bit of smoke?

Chloe wasn't watching her feet. She took a step too far.

She pitched backwards off the roof, giving another startled yelp that caught in her throat midway as she fell.

Bobby felt his limbs moving, legs pumping underneath him, arms stretched as far as he could stretch them.

His eyes were on the descending figure above him.

And he skidded to a stop as Chloe fell solidly into his arms. He dipped forward, anticipating her weight, but noted with a startled surprise that he barely felt the impact. She was light, and he was strong. His gangly limbs curled under her head and beneath the back of her knees, cradling her, bringing her fall to a halt.

His eyes darted across her miniscule form, noting her eyes screwed shut in anticipation of her fall, catching sight of some wicked-looking burns at her fingertips. He could smell singed flesh.

But she didn't hit the ground. He got her.

...why did he catch her?

Bobby met Chloe's eyes as she realized she was no longer falling. She gave a winded gasp, and Bobby found himself releasing a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Oh! Thank you!" Chloe said breathlessly, putting a hand to her chest as it rose and fell rapidly.

The older boy stared down at her, limbs rigid, muscles locked.

"I'm glad you were standing there! Sorry, I just thought you were here to mess around… that would've been a bad fall."

She was thanking him. Beaming up at him with grateful eyes and a growing smile to match. In his grip, but unconcerned.

He wanted to tell her to shut up, that he didn't do it _on purpose._ He was just standing there and then his body moved on its own. It was just a reaction. He would've let her fall.

He definitely would've.

"Whew… okay, could I please get down?"

Wordlessly, Bobby uncurled his arms, depositing Chloe on the grass. She took a few steps on shaky legs, giving herself another deep breath. As she went, Bobby found himself glancing back and forth between her small frame and his half-clenched hands.

Why did he catch her, then? He just stood and laughed that time the two jocks took a header off the mess hall. It wasn't like she was going to hit him on the way down. So why?

Bobby swallowed, attempting to relax his arms. Stiffly, they jerked back to his sides. He flexed his fingers, curling them one after another, trying to ease the tension which had seized his whole body.

"Bobby, right?"

At the sound of his name, his gaze instinctively went to her. Chloe was standing by the cabin now, her fingers interlocked, thumbs slowly rubbing against each other. She'd fixed him with an even gaze that penetrated the numbing fog in his head. He recoiled from the shock of it.

"Yeah… that's right…" he managed to choke out.

"Are you okay?"

"No…"

Before he could catch it, the word slipped out. Bobby gave another start as it left his mouth, eyes going wide at the way Chloe's eyebrows raised, the way her head tilted ever so slightly to the side.

What was he _doing?_ He was acting like _Elton!_

"I'm not, uh…"

A dull anger beat against the back of his head. Damn it! _Damn it!_ Why was he so flustered right now!? Why couldn't he say anything!? Chloe was just staring at him, the way you stared at a sick dog just before you blew its brains out behind the shed. This wasn't supposed to go like this! What was wrong with him!?

"What's wrong?"

Bobby's anger was swept away in an instant as those words left Chloe's mouth.

It was replaced by _confusion,_ and by _shock._

The words were simply spoken. There was a light note to them, something warm and amicable that he wasn't accustomed to. They had none of the drawling bite that they did when he used them. There was none of the disappointment, the _distress_ that they carried when his teachers said them back home.

She wasn't saying it right. She wasn't supposed to say it like that to him.

His mouth opened and shut. He tried to get the words out to tell her to piss off, mind her own business, he didn't need her concern. He was _Bobby Zilch._

But instead…

"I don't… know…" he answered, finally, in a voice that trembled with a sickening hesitance.

 _What was happening?_

Chloe hummed softly, putting a hand under the chin of her helmet as she looked at him. Bobby did his best to meet her gaze, waiting for the reply he knew was coming. She'd call him stupid, of course. A big idiot that couldn't even talk right, who got confused way too easily and didn't know anything. He was just a big, dumb, ugly -

"Do you want to sit down?" Chloe asked, interrupting his thoughts. She stepped over to him, putting a tiny hand on his arm. "You look like you're feeling sick. Come on."

Bobby didn't reply, merely staring down at the girl. Chloe met his gaze and gave a gentle pull, walking him towards the cabin steps. At some point during that short walk, Bobby's frazzled mind made a dull realization that echoed against itself, growing in strength with each step.

 _She ain't scared of me. She just ain't scared of me._

Bobby sat down heavily on the step that Chloe led him to, a low grunt escaping his throat as he glanced back in her direction. He saw her lightly pick up a dark red notebook which had been resting just inside of the cabin doorway, then she promptly turned and sat down next to him.

Directly next to him.

On the steps.

"Let me know if you feel better or worse, okay?" she said, featherlike and clear, before opening the book and flipping through it.

Bobby felt his jaw working as he attempted to hack out a reply. His mouth opened, then closed, and again. The words weren't coming to him. He should have a thousand things to say right now, most of them related to how lucky she was that he was obviously _incredibly sick_ , but all he could do instead was stupidly ogle her helmet as she bent over the book.

He rubbed his forearm thoughtlessly, mouth finally closing back into a tight line. His eyes drifted downward, towards the open pages of the book. At the sight of it, Bobby felt himself instinctively leaning in to get a better look at the thin, sharp script which Chloe had lined the pages with.

It was a lot of weird words, stuff about satellites and "Delta-V" and _collimation of the apertures._ The opposite page had a big picture of some kind of machine, with a lot of arrows pointing to it. Right now Chloe was writing about surge protectors.

He didn't know how long he'd been watching before the words came out of his mouth.

"What're you writing?"

Chloe's hand paused mid-sentence as her body shifted, turning towards Bobby with wide eyes. He clamped his yap shut again, meeting her gaze which seemed to be full of expectation. It was quiet between them, and the noise of the woods surrounding them seemed to drain away.

Bobby swallowed.

Chloe blinked.

"...it's a plan." she replied finally. He noticed how she tilted the book ever so slightly away from him, as if now realizing he could see it and attempting to hide what was written. "For a radio."

"You're makin' a radio?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

The girl nodded.

"Is that what you're messing with up on the cabin? Saw you with a boombox or something."

Another nod.

"Why's that?"

"Because I'm trying to make contact with them." The words came quickly out of Chloe's mouth, and with that she turned back to her notes, flipping to a new page.

Bobby furrowed his brow, tapping a finger against his knee. Them? Who the hell was them? What was she talking about?

Wait… he thought back to their conversation from the other day. About her helmet. Hadn't she said something similar? About wanting 'them' to be able to spot her easier? Was this the same kind of thing?

Something about space helmets and a radio.

"Are you tryin' to be an astronaut or something?" he guessed.

Chloe didn't stop writing, but he noticed a small smile cross her face. "You could say that." she answered with a soft note. "I've been hearing voices in my head since I was really young. I can't really tell what they're saying most of the time, but I know they're coming from space. Polarissima Australis, I think."

Bobby had no idea what Polar Ice Australia was, but he _did_ know that this girl was talking about having talks with aliens.

"Oh, so the radio's for talkin' back? Since they can't hear you?"

"Yes!"

Bobby dipped back a few inches in surprise as Chloe turned to him, excitement apparent on her face.

"I've been trying to talk to them for years but they never hear me. I think my telepathy's just not strong enough, but I can't wait to be a Psychonaut. I want to talk to them _soon_ and hear what they have to say! Maybe they can tell me why I'm here!"

"Why you're here?" Somewhat taken aback, the words trickled out of Bobby's mouth. "Aint'cha here because you got sent here by your parents?"

"No, I didn't… mean camp…"

That sparkling light left Chloe's eyes. She turned back towards the notebook, chewing on her lip as her fingers drummed against the page. The sight of her, back straight despite the uncomfortable tension, made Bobby swallow inadvertently, and he took a deep breath inward. The exhale was silent, in an attempt not to disturb whatever thoughts were going through Chloe's head.

Chloe was silent, too. Her pencil no longer flew across the page, instead laying flat on its surface. Her eyes stayed downcast and dim. Bobby didn't know exactly what she was hoping for - or what _he_ was _waiting_ for - but he felt like he should at least try to say _something_. She only fell silent after he opened his mouth like a dumb asshole, after all.

"Uhhh…"

 _Yeah, that'd do the trick,_ Bobby thought to himself with a disbelieving roll of the eyes. Absentmindedly, the bully rubbed the back of his neck. Why was this so hard?

"...I've been thinking…"

"Yeah?"

Bobby jumped onto Chloe's words as they came out of her mouth, crumbly and uncertain. She didn't turn her head, continuing to gaze down at the notebook. Following her gaze, Bobby noticed that her hands were clenched on the pages. Not too tight, but clearly firm. He recognized that kind of fist.

"Maybe I'm not… from here." the girl said, quietly enough that Bobby strained to hear her through the helmet despite the relative quiet of their surroundings. "Earth, I mean. I've never felt any special kinship with other human beings. I like my parents, and some of the kids here at camp are nice, but… I've spent years trying to figure out why I've never really _clicked_ with anyone. And these voices have been with me for as long as I can remember. Maybe they can tell me why I feel like this."

The words came out hesitant, at first, but with a mounting confidence. As Bobby listened to her speak, Chloe's head tilted upward, first to survey the campgrounds - Bobby's own eyes followed hers to Kitty and Franke, who were standing at the bridge and staring at them - and then towards the sky, patches of brilliant blue visible through the cloud cover.

So, _basically,_ what she was saying was...

"You think you're a secret alien?" Bobby asked.

Chloe gave a tight nod, inhaling deeply. "You probably think that's weird. Nobody else believes me." She said, sounding resigned.

"Well why not!?"

"See, that's what I expected - "

Mid-sentence, Chloe's voice cut out. She turned widened eyes back towards Bobby, mouth slightly agape, as he stared back down at her.

"Why don't they believe you? Look at you! You're all spacey-looking, and you've got some kind of satellite radio or something!" Bobby continued. "They're all just dumb idiots who think they're _so smart,_ but you're _way_ smarter than them! I bet stupid Phoebe doesn't even know where Polar Ice Australia _is_! I've - "

 _I've felt like you were different since I saw you!_

Bobby stopped himself there and looked away, awareness catching up to him. He was getting _pissed_ that people would doubt Chloe, but why? Why get so bothered about what other people thought of this girl?

Hoping that he hadn't just made an even bigger ass of himself, Bobby glanced back towards Chloe, only to find that small smile from before shining back at him. He almost moved to shield his eyes from the light.

"So you believe me, then?"

"Huh? Oh… yeah, I do."

Another silence fell between the pair, even drowning out Bobby's thoughts. He couldn't think, couldn't come up with anything to say. He just looked down at Chloe, who gazed back in kind. Nervously, he attempted his own smile to answer hers, painfully aware of how cracked and messy it looked. Bobby Zilch never did anything pretty, or even decent for that matter.

But if Chloe hated his smile, she didn't show it. She held his eyes for another moment or two, then returned to her notebook, taking pencil in hand.

"So… Bobby?"

"Yeah, that's me!" Bobby answered quickly, feeling his heart jump as his name left her mouth.

"Do you know anything about aurora borealis?"


	3. Chapter 3

"...about this, Bobby. Anger and threats aren't the way to get peoples' respect. You have to respect them back."

Bobby's eyes darted up to meet hers, away from the sight of her hands cupped gently in his own. Seeing that familiar, piercing look in her eyes - the one she always got when she was anxious about how well she was being understood - he quickly nodded. "Yeah, gotcha. Respect others." the boy repeated.

"Good. Don't let anger make decisions for you, okay? Keep yourself grounded. I know you've got a good head under all that hair."

He gave another nod, this time feeling traces of a smile working across his face at the compliment he was paid. Matching his smile with one of her own, Chloe hopped down off of the log she'd perched herself on and moved to gently withdraw her fingers from his grasp. He relinquished them reluctantly.

"It'll be dinner soon, so we should stop there." the younger girl noted, hands on her hips as she gazed at the sky's transitory hues. "I wanted to hammer out some more details on the ablative shielding. See you later?"

"Yeah, of course. You got it, Chloe. Respect. Gentle."

"I'm glad that we can have these talks."

She was glad. Glad to talk to him.

Bobby straightened up, rubbing his neck with a nervous laugh. "Me too, it's… really good. Haha. Talking."

That piercing look she held was replaced by something more gentle - a look of relief and approval. A warmth spread through him, one that was becoming increasingly familiar.

Taking his cue, and being freshly out of things to say, Bobby eased himself off of his own log. She awarded him a smile before turning to pull a notebook out of her backpack - he was seconds late to return it, his own mouth curling upward in a way that felt unnatural.

Bobby considered a good-bye, but the silence quickly grew too long. Instead, he turned and left Chloe to her notes.

The smile he wore survived only twenty steps. As he grew further away from her, his snaggle-toothed scowl took its place, and his straightened stride gave way to a more comfortable, loping swagger.

Twenty steps was a lot more than he'd managed two months ago.

His mind flashed back to that day at the cabins, the image of Chloe sitting beside him still fresh. That had been the beginning of this… whatever kind of relationship it was. Once a week or so, Chloe would pull Bobby to some secluded location for a talk. The conversations weren't very focused - often the topic zigged and zagged between Chloe's plans for the future, Bobby's school life, some technique that one or both of them was having a difficult time with, and so on - but one way or another, they would usually come to the topic of Bobby's behavior.

Which, as Chloe put it, "needed some work."

All that stuff about respect and not giving in to anger and junk… it was pretty garbage that Bobby would've stuffed down some loser's shirt if it came from anyone but Chloe. She didn't have that nagging, lecture-y way of speaking that his teachers had, or the cocky "I know what's best for you" shit he got from Phoebe whenever he could be assed to sit still long enough. Chloe never made him feel like a dumb failure.

And the whole time she was talking, she had this feeling of… he didn't even know how to describe it. Specialness? Brightness? He wasn't some kind of nerd poet that knew all the rules for describing someone fancily, but for sure he felt like Chloe was unique. Like he was talking to someone that was really worth listening to. It wasn't a feeling he'd ever had before. Two months later he still didn't know what to make of it.

One thing was for sure, though; Benny _hated_ it. The big-eared wimp had finally stopped sneering whenever he crossed paths with Chloe, probably because he didn't want another dose of Bobby's special hand-shaped concussion medicine, but he still had plenty of smart-alecky comments to make on Campster when he was out of reach.

Something about Chloe was really grating on Benny. Bobby didn't really care what it was, but he was starting to get seriously pissed about all of the disrespect coming out of his lackey's dumb face. It figured that he'd only _finally_ start getting serious about this camp bully deal when it came to someone Bobby _didn't_ want bullied.

Speaking of the mess hall, Bobby could see it now, looming in the distance as he sauntered out of the woods. Beady eyes narrowed, sweeping left and right across the campgrounds. The little dumbass was nowhere to be seen. That was good, he guessed - no doubt there'd be a fight if he ran into Benny now, and that senile cook in the mess hall was probably only one more thrown trash can away from a huge aneurysm.

He hadn't seen so much as an earlobe from Benny since a few days ago, when he posted that moronic comment about how the older boy "would be sorry." Whatever Fideleo was planning, it made Bobby's fists itch. He was gonna have to take another moron to pound town soon, he could feel it.

Though speaking of morons, he _did_ catch a smelly eyeful of Phoebe. The two of them were matching pace on a pair of roads that converged on the way to the mess hall. Bobby rolled his eyes, wondering if he should just cut across the grass to avoid her, but nah. He'd never run from Dr. Love before and he wasn't gonna start now.

Shrink Junior glanced his way as their paths met.

"Oh, Bobby - "

"Warning, warning, Officer Vomit Face is on deck." the older boy cut her off, sneering down into her face as she recoiled. "Oh, sorry Phoebe - my automatic 'ugly loudmouth' alarms went off. Guess you got uglier and louder since last time! Ha ha!"

He watched with a twisted satisfaction as Phoebe bit back a hot retort, instead brandishing a smile. Stick a 'sorry' in there and she'd melt. What a chump.

"Those are some interesting sensors, Bobby. I'm surprised I haven't heard of them before." the girl replied, turning back towards the mess hall and speaking without looking at him. "Something you got recently?"

"More like when I first got here. I'm just telling people now out of _consideration_ , since I'm feelin' nice."

The word 'consideration' barely escaped Bobby's mouth in one piece. He caught sight of Phoebe's lips pursing ever so slightly and felt his face twist further.

"'Nice' is a good thing. I think there are better ways for you to express dissatisfaction, but this is a good start."

"You're right - a good start for you to face your butt-faced ugliness."

"You've still got a lot of the classic Bobby charm though. With some more work, I'm sure we can turn that 'nice' into a proper compliment very soon. Can I thank Chloe for these recent developments?"

The grin which had been spreading on Bobby's face leveled off. He narrowed his eyes at Phoebe, who continued to look ahead. "None of your business, brain detective."

"Of course it's my business, Bobby." Phoebe sighed. "And don't call me that."

"I don't care what books you been reading, Love, but this ain't a therapy session. You stay away from - "

Phoebe cut him off with a sharp glance. "From Chloe? That's a very possessive and harmful thing for you to say." she remarked. "She's my friend and I worry about her."

Worry about her.

Harmful.

The shorter girl shrugged, matching Bobby's pace as he slowed to a halt. She was in lecture mode. "It's good that you're making some progress with her. She's a good person and you could learn a lot from her. I've been trying to help out, but there hasn't been much I can do. Chloe's really gifted. But you can't just demand that people do things. I hope this isn't how you talk to - "

Bobby stepped closer, face dark, and seized Phoebe by the front of her shirt, wrenching her around to face him. He stared into her eyes as they went from assertive to panicked. He lifted her from the ground, feeling her grab onto his wrists and frantically kick out at him. She'd forgotten a thing or two, seemed like.

"I'm not sayin' it again." he snarled, lips curled back sharply. "Mind your own business, Phoebe, or I won't be the only one with problems."

And he shoved her away, watching her stumble on her landing and fall to the ground. Phoebe raised a hand in defense against the figure looming over her, fists shaking. Though she tried to look confident, he could see her eyes getting shinier.

That was enough. As soon as Bobby saw the first tear brimming he turned, scowling, and followed the path to the mess hall alone.

By the time he reached the doors, the deafening fury raging in his mind had subsided to a steady seethe. Calm enough to realize he was _really_ glad Chloe hadn't seen that. After all the talk about not giving in to anger and talking things out, of _course_ the first thing he did was turn around and threaten Phoebe. What would she say?

It was effective, though. Maybe she'd watch her mouth now and they wouldn't have any more incidents. He was supposed to be playing nice, but his usual methods hadn't failed him yet. He'd practice being better on people who _weren't_ freakishly overconfident bitches.

"DINNER TIME! SIT DOWN YOU HOOLIGANS! AND YOU, SCARY KID - I SWEAR IF ONE MORE DEVIL-PICKING TRASH CAN LEAVES THE FLOOR I'LL GIVE YOU TRIPLE CARROTS FOR A WEEK!"

Bobby walked past the bellowing chef and took his normal seat at the corner of the cafeteria, casting his eyes over the chattering campers. A few minutes later Phoebe walked in, stiffly avoiding his gaze, and sat next to Mikhail. The redhead's eyes narrowed, and he cocked an ear as the commie with a speech problem asked about the dirt on her back.

...harmful, huh. Possessive. Dangerous.

Bobby Zilch knew he was dangerous, and everyone else knew it too. Every crying baby that set foot in this camp knew it belonged to him, and they'd have to pay to be here now and then. Being dangerous even punched his ticket for this camp.

But he really didn't want _Chloe_ to think that.

Bobby put a hand under his chin, lazily eying the pig slop the chef was passing around. She probably didn't, right? She thought he was 'unruly,' and a bully (which he was, he thought with a smirk), but not _dangerous._ She wasn't afraid of him. He'd been worried during the first week that she was just really good at hiding it, not wanting to set him off. Worried that she saw him the way everyone else did. But she didn't.

She even asked if they could email each other when camp was over. Bobby didn't have an email - he didn't even have a computer - but he knew that there were some at school, and it wouldn't be too hard to get to them. It was the one thing he had to look forward to going back home. Last year he didn't care _which_ garbage field full of sobbing kids he was in, but now Chloe was at Whispering Rock. It pained him a little to think of leaving.

She wanted to talk to him more, though.

"Now that's more like it! Progress!" the chef remarked, seeing the smile beginning to grow across Bobby's face as he slapped the tray of food down. "Glad you like the food, you little ragamuffin!"

Chloe wasn't like the other kids. She wasn't afraid of him. She wasn't some dumbass who thought she was smart - she really was smart. She was amazing. She was strong.

At first, Bobby was afraid she'd been faking it. He was afraid she was scared. He worried that somehow, sometime, he'd break her. But he couldn't.

He could never break her.


End file.
